SAD 17 to present revised school budget at public hearing Tuesday night (2024)

PARIS — After Maine School Administrative District 17’s 2024-25 operating budget of $51.29 million was rejected by Oxford Hills voters last month, a validation meeting will be held Tuesday night for residents to consider a revised budget for $50.5 million.

The public hearing, which starts at 6 p.m., will be held in the Forum at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. The meeting warrant includes 11 articles for residents to consider, amend and vote on. Details for the proposed budget may be found on SAD 17’s website at https://www.msad17.org/article/1683071.

Following the hearing, a second referendum election has been scheduled for Aug. 6 at each town’s regular polling place.

“This is an opportunity for voters to approve (articles for district operations) ahead of the referendum vote next month,” said Superintendent Heather Manchester. “We will explain where cuts were made following the June 11 vote and present changes.

“We’ve used feedback from the previous budget meeting in May, which voters had approved, to make cuts that will have the least impact on students.”

One of the changes was to eliminate a plan to start up an alternative education program at Oxford Hills Middle School. Manchester said it is too early to determine whether the project will be reconsidered in the future. Some open teacher positions and instructional coaching positions have been eliminated for the coming school year, and one teaching principal position has been restructured as an assistant.

An additional capital improvements request of $2 million that would have been used to reverse SAD 17’s decade-long trend of deferring repairs and maintenance to schools has also been eliminated.

Using data from architectural inspections done last summer and fall to all 11 school sites in the district, estimates to repair elementary schools alone start at $15 million or more. Instead of allocating a set amount annually over the next several years to make capital improvements, Manchester said her administration is working on a plan that will address infrastructure and system improvements through a bond for residents to vote on during a future election, possibly as soon as this November.

A STEM teacher and outdoor education coaching position that have been in place for three or four years (but until now have been funded through local, state or federal grants) remain in the revised budget. Since the first budget vote, the STEM teacher position was approved for a 50% grant.

When the school board approved the new budget last week only one director voted against it, citing SAD 17’s outdoor education positions as unnecessary. But all elementary aged students have received education at Roberts Farm, a program supported by the Western Foothills Land Trust and Healthy Oxford Hills, as well as local businesses like New Balance. Currently, a new modular class building is being constructed at Roberts Farm, made possible with $819,000 from a federal American Rescue Plan grant at no expense to the district or local share.

ARP funds have also been used to invest in outdoor education programs at SAD 17’s elementary schools, including nature trails, classroom pavilions and gardens. Some residents have griped on social media about adding outdoor education infrastructure when the district’s buildings are in need of rehabilitation.

“These projects have been paid for with COVID funding,” Manchester said. “Strategies to mitigate (the affects of) COVID was to get kids outside. Those funds were used for that purpose, and we are not allowed to use the money to supplant your local budget.

“What we have found is that kids do phenomenal when learning outside, and teachers have asked for professional development for it. Kids have asked to be able to have extra days of classes at Roberts Farm. They are using tools found outside to meet learning standards.

“Outdoor learning fits the overall pillars of SAD 17’s strategic plans. It helps with healthy and resilient students, it supports our academics. And it supports educator recruitment and retention; our teachers love it,” Manchester said.

By Maine statute, the school district supplies each municipality with an explanatory document to be made available to voters during referendum. Some communities post details in each voting booth, but some post them in other areas of their polling place. Voters are encouraged to request a copy from election clerks before they vote.

The overall cost to the school district for the second proposed budget and election will be about $10,000.

« Previous

Next »